HANK HARRIS
FantasyLand (Sunbunny)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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As a son in an Air Force family, Hank Harris was raised on the move, and when he got out on his own he made another series of independent moves before settling into his South Dakota base. All that travel is reflected in the diversity of sounds he incorporates into FantasyLand, his most ambitious musical project to date. From folk rock (his vocals are sometimes a dead ringer for Stephen Stills) to R&B, pop to reggae, gospel to jazz, Harris manages to integrate nearly everything he's heard but somehow makes the whole thing hang together in a way that makes musical sense from track to track.

He gets a lot of help along the way, with a horn section, a variety of keyboards (Peter Neussmann on B-3 is a standout contributor), a string quartet, an eight voice choir and sundry other sounds backing up Harris' vocals and guitar (and, on one track, glockenspiel). Sometimes it seems like he's got most of the population of his prairie state in the studio with him. At other times, it's just Harris alone, or with a single accompanist. He's willing to use virtually any available lineup to put across the vision he has for each composition, and his vision is consistently impressive. Another independent artist working outside the constraints of the commercial divisions that the marketplace so often imposes upon artistic expression, Hank Harris has assembled a dozen tracks well worth your while.

Track List:

Fantasy Land * Make Believe * The Beast Unwinds * I And I * Forever * 15 Minutes * Spirit Moves * Too Many Wounds * Water Of Life * Better Than That * Mato Paho * Genuine Artificial

[Pick this up at hankharris.com.]

© 2003 - Shaun Dale